Kenya's inter-ethnic clashes kill 12, injure 17 others

NAIROBI, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people have been killed and 17 others injured since the beginning of the year in the ongoing inter-clan clashes in northern Kenya, a humanitarian agency said on Thursday.

The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) said it has managed to respond appropriately in evacuating the injured to various nearby hospitals for treatment and in provision of First Aid services in the affected areas in Moyale, Marsabit and Samburu Counties.

"With the current active conflicts, KRCS is strained in mobilizing resources especially food, water and sanitation services to assist the IDPs in various part of the country," the relief agency said in a statement released in Nairobi.

Thousands of people have been displaced in the latest round of clashes between two warring communities in Moyale, Marsabit and Samburu regions in northern Kenya

Moyale remained a ghost town late last year as thousands of the residents including civil servants and local politicians fleeing out of the area.

Relative calm has been returning slowly into troubled border areas with the security forces taking charge of the most parts of the villages.

Some of the villages remained completely deserted especially in Butiye where several houses were burnt and properties worth millions of shillings destroyed.

The KRCS said the situation in Dukana area stabilized on Wednesday after intense fighting ensued on Tuesday where at least one person was killed and seven others injured amid tension.

Fresh attacks broke out on Jan. 4 among two communities when some herdsmen had taken their cattle to a watering point in Odda where they suddenly attack and left a boy critically injured.

"Following the incident, four people lost their lives and 22 camels, two goats and six cows were killed as well," KRCS said.

The situation in Moyale County has gradually deteriorating as inter-clan attacks have persisted since July 2013.

Between October and November last year, a series of attacks occurred among the Burji, Borna and Gabras in Moyale County. In early December, sporadic attacks occurred that left over 40,000 persons displaced with the majority of them crossing the border into Ethiopia in search of safety.

The Borana, Burji and Gabra communities have been feuding since 2011, mostly over control of resources such as water and grazing land but the conflict has also been linked to politics.

Livestock herding is the main livelihood and source of income in northern and some parts of eastern Kenya, and the hike in cattle thefts threatens to ignite cross-community reprisals and raids that could set the stage for a surge in ethnic fighting in the region.

Settled Kenyan communities that live in regions bordering the pastoral areas of northeastern and eastern Kenya have complained that cattle rustling incidents are surging during drought periods.